Writing JDs can feel like yelling into the void. Tons of effort, but not much return if you don’t have a job description creation strategy in place. But because only a few organizations invest resources, effort, and time in writing effective job descriptions, you have an advantage to stand out.

So I asked 15 HR professionals to share their tips for writing effective job descriptions. Read on.

3 Steps to Take Before you Write your Job Description

Before you start writing your job description, consider these factors first:

• Understand the “why” of the role: Research to know what the needs of the role are and how it will support your organization’s strategy and growth.
• Define the role’s structure: Now, come up with a clear title for the role you’ve seen you need. After that, decide on the seniority level of the role using clear language. For instance, write senior frontend engineer, instead of rockstar senior frontend engineer.
• Perform the roles’ need analysis: Next, identify the critical responsibilities of the role. Also, understand the must-have and nice-to-have requirements for the open position. And the success metrics for the job opening. For instance, if it’s a frontend engineer’s role, your success metric to determine the capability of the employee could be,“ minimize customers’ UI challenges by 10% in the next 3 months”.

The above three steps will help you dive deeper into creating an effective JD.

Now let’s get into the HR Pros tips:

1. Clarity is Everything

Clarity is the engine of job descriptions. Without clarity, neither you nor your future employees will know what to expect from each other. Every phrase in your job description should add value. This way, you attract any qualified candidate who reads your job description.

On the other hand, ambiguity gives you unqualified candidates.

So, instead of vague communication, be specific to allow for improved clarity. For instance, instead of saying that it’s the applicant’s responsibility to oversee the content marketing department, add specificity by stating that it’s their responsibility to oversee content writing, creating content strategy, and managing freelance writers.

So here’s a step-by-step guide audit checklist for clarity:

• Does your JD have a job description summary?
• Are your responsibilities clear and action-oriented?
• Is the job title free from jargon?
• Have you included must-have and nice-to-have requirements?
• Is the language free from any jargon?
• Have you included the salary range and benefits?
• Can your candidates scan and quickly find the section they’re looking for?
• Have you explained why this job opening matters?

Read the full article here: